Thank you for your responses.
The dealer played the speakers on the same electronics (Ayre monoblock amp, preamp and CD player - I brought my own CD's).
I don't think he is trying to cheat me - I've been dealing with him for so many years and he has always been kind to me and their service has been excellent.
He did tell me that he personally loved Maggies and realized the room I was listening to them in was too small for them. He told me he would love to have a larger room for these speakers but that is not the economics of the time. I don't have the impression that it is easy to be a dealer of good stereo equipment in even good times.
I've now talked with him and he is going to stop by my house and look over my room (it is a huge finished basement with only 7' ceilings but perhaps 25' x 35' and quite dead with thick carpeting and a sound-deadening ceiling).
Then he's suggested leaving the speakers with me for a while. So in case I first try them out on a day that I haven't slept well or am feeling irritated with life, then I can keep listening.
I know in my heart I'm not going to buy the B&W's. The best option for me might not to purchase anything at all - (or perhaps just extend the bass of the Maggie 3.5 with a couple woofers). The money I wouldn't spend I could take my wife to Greece (if they're not rioting). Or perhaps I will buy the 20.1's and we can view Greece on the internet.
Anyway I now know what I need to do to come to a rational decision.
The dealer played the speakers on the same electronics (Ayre monoblock amp, preamp and CD player - I brought my own CD's).
I don't think he is trying to cheat me - I've been dealing with him for so many years and he has always been kind to me and their service has been excellent.
He did tell me that he personally loved Maggies and realized the room I was listening to them in was too small for them. He told me he would love to have a larger room for these speakers but that is not the economics of the time. I don't have the impression that it is easy to be a dealer of good stereo equipment in even good times.
I've now talked with him and he is going to stop by my house and look over my room (it is a huge finished basement with only 7' ceilings but perhaps 25' x 35' and quite dead with thick carpeting and a sound-deadening ceiling).
Then he's suggested leaving the speakers with me for a while. So in case I first try them out on a day that I haven't slept well or am feeling irritated with life, then I can keep listening.
I know in my heart I'm not going to buy the B&W's. The best option for me might not to purchase anything at all - (or perhaps just extend the bass of the Maggie 3.5 with a couple woofers). The money I wouldn't spend I could take my wife to Greece (if they're not rioting). Or perhaps I will buy the 20.1's and we can view Greece on the internet.
Anyway I now know what I need to do to come to a rational decision.